Documentation / git-config.txton commit config doc: quote paths, fixing tilde-interpretation (5ff0c0e)
   1git-config(1)
   2=============
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-config - Get and set repository or global options
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] name [value [value_regex]]
  13'git config' [<file-option>] [type] --add name value
  14'git config' [<file-option>] [type] --replace-all name value [value_regex]
  15'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get name [value_regex]
  16'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-all name [value_regex]
  17'git config' [<file-option>] [type] [-z|--null] --get-regexp name_regex [value_regex]
  18'git config' [<file-option>] --unset name [value_regex]
  19'git config' [<file-option>] --unset-all name [value_regex]
  20'git config' [<file-option>] --rename-section old_name new_name
  21'git config' [<file-option>] --remove-section name
  22'git config' [<file-option>] [-z|--null] -l | --list
  23'git config' [<file-option>] --get-color name [default]
  24'git config' [<file-option>] --get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]
  25'git config' [<file-option>] -e | --edit
  26
  27DESCRIPTION
  28-----------
  29You can query/set/replace/unset options with this command. The name is
  30actually the section and the key separated by a dot, and the value will be
  31escaped.
  32
  33Multiple lines can be added to an option by using the '--add' option.
  34If you want to update or unset an option which can occur on multiple
  35lines, a POSIX regexp `value_regex` needs to be given.  Only the
  36existing values that match the regexp are updated or unset.  If
  37you want to handle the lines that do *not* match the regex, just
  38prepend a single exclamation mark in front (see also <<EXAMPLES>>).
  39
  40The type specifier can be either '--int' or '--bool', to make
  41'git config' ensure that the variable(s) are of the given type and
  42convert the value to the canonical form (simple decimal number for int,
  43a "true" or "false" string for bool), or '--path', which does some
  44path expansion (see '--path' below).  If no type specifier is passed, no
  45checks or transformations are performed on the value.
  46
  47When reading, the values are read from the system, global and
  48repository local configuration files by default, and options
  49'--system', '--global', '--local' and '--file <filename>' can be
  50used to tell the command to read from only that location (see <<FILES>>).
  51
  52When writing, the new value is written to the repository local
  53configuration file by default, and options '--system', '--global',
  54'--file <filename>' can be used to tell the command to write to
  55that location (you can say '--local' but that is the default).
  56
  57This command will fail with non-zero status upon error.  Some exit
  58codes are:
  59
  60. The config file is invalid (ret=3),
  61. can not write to the config file (ret=4),
  62. no section or name was provided (ret=2),
  63. the section or key is invalid (ret=1),
  64. you try to unset an option which does not exist (ret=5),
  65. you try to unset/set an option for which multiple lines match (ret=5), or
  66. you try to use an invalid regexp (ret=6).
  67
  68On success, the command returns the exit code 0.
  69
  70OPTIONS
  71-------
  72
  73--replace-all::
  74        Default behavior is to replace at most one line. This replaces
  75        all lines matching the key (and optionally the value_regex).
  76
  77--add::
  78        Adds a new line to the option without altering any existing
  79        values.  This is the same as providing '^$' as the value_regex
  80        in `--replace-all`.
  81
  82--get::
  83        Get the value for a given key (optionally filtered by a regex
  84        matching the value). Returns error code 1 if the key was not
  85        found and the last value if multiple key values were found.
  86
  87--get-all::
  88        Like get, but does not fail if the number of values for the key
  89        is not exactly one.
  90
  91--get-regexp::
  92        Like --get-all, but interprets the name as a regular expression and
  93        writes out the key names.  Regular expression matching is currently
  94        case-sensitive and done against a canonicalized version of the key
  95        in which section and variable names are lowercased, but subsection
  96        names are not.
  97
  98--global::
  99        For writing options: write to global `~/.gitconfig` file
 100        rather than the repository `.git/config`, write to
 101        `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` file if this file exists and the
 102        `~/.gitconfig` file doesn't.
 103+
 104For reading options: read only from global `~/.gitconfig` and from
 105`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config` rather than from all available files.
 106+
 107See also <<FILES>>.
 108
 109--system::
 110        For writing options: write to system-wide
 111        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` rather than the repository
 112        `.git/config`.
 113+
 114For reading options: read only from system-wide `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig`
 115rather than from all available files.
 116+
 117See also <<FILES>>.
 118
 119--local::
 120        For writing options: write to the repository `.git/config` file.
 121        This is the default behavior.
 122+
 123For reading options: read only from the repository `.git/config` rather than
 124from all available files.
 125+
 126See also <<FILES>>.
 127
 128-f config-file::
 129--file config-file::
 130        Use the given config file instead of the one specified by GIT_CONFIG.
 131
 132--remove-section::
 133        Remove the given section from the configuration file.
 134
 135--rename-section::
 136        Rename the given section to a new name.
 137
 138--unset::
 139        Remove the line matching the key from config file.
 140
 141--unset-all::
 142        Remove all lines matching the key from config file.
 143
 144-l::
 145--list::
 146        List all variables set in config file.
 147
 148--bool::
 149        'git config' will ensure that the output is "true" or "false"
 150
 151--int::
 152        'git config' will ensure that the output is a simple
 153        decimal number.  An optional value suffix of 'k', 'm', or 'g'
 154        in the config file will cause the value to be multiplied
 155        by 1024, 1048576, or 1073741824 prior to output.
 156
 157--bool-or-int::
 158        'git config' will ensure that the output matches the format of
 159        either --bool or --int, as described above.
 160
 161--path::
 162        'git-config' will expand leading '{tilde}' to the value of
 163        '$HOME', and '{tilde}user' to the home directory for the
 164        specified user.  This option has no effect when setting the
 165        value (but you can use 'git config bla {tilde}/' from the
 166        command line to let your shell do the expansion).
 167
 168-z::
 169--null::
 170        For all options that output values and/or keys, always
 171        end values with the null character (instead of a
 172        newline). Use newline instead as a delimiter between
 173        key and value. This allows for secure parsing of the
 174        output without getting confused e.g. by values that
 175        contain line breaks.
 176
 177--get-colorbool name [stdout-is-tty]::
 178
 179        Find the color setting for `name` (e.g. `color.diff`) and output
 180        "true" or "false".  `stdout-is-tty` should be either "true" or
 181        "false", and is taken into account when configuration says
 182        "auto".  If `stdout-is-tty` is missing, then checks the standard
 183        output of the command itself, and exits with status 0 if color
 184        is to be used, or exits with status 1 otherwise.
 185        When the color setting for `name` is undefined, the command uses
 186        `color.ui` as fallback.
 187
 188--get-color name [default]::
 189
 190        Find the color configured for `name` (e.g. `color.diff.new`) and
 191        output it as the ANSI color escape sequence to the standard
 192        output.  The optional `default` parameter is used instead, if
 193        there is no color configured for `name`.
 194
 195-e::
 196--edit::
 197        Opens an editor to modify the specified config file; either
 198        '--system', '--global', or repository (default).
 199
 200--[no-]includes::
 201        Respect `include.*` directives in config files when looking up
 202        values. Defaults to on.
 203
 204[[FILES]]
 205FILES
 206-----
 207
 208If not set explicitly with '--file', there are four files where
 209'git config' will search for configuration options:
 210
 211$GIT_DIR/config::
 212        Repository specific configuration file.
 213
 214~/.gitconfig::
 215        User-specific configuration file. Also called "global"
 216        configuration file.
 217
 218$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/git/config::
 219        Second user-specific configuration file. If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set
 220        or empty, `$HOME/.config/git/config` will be used. Any single-valued
 221        variable set in this file will be overwritten by whatever is in
 222        `~/.gitconfig`.  It is a good idea not to create this file if
 223        you sometimes use older versions of Git, as support for this
 224        file was added fairly recently.
 225
 226$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig::
 227        System-wide configuration file.
 228
 229If no further options are given, all reading options will read all of these
 230files that are available. If the global or the system-wide configuration
 231file are not available they will be ignored. If the repository configuration
 232file is not available or readable, 'git config' will exit with a non-zero
 233error code. However, in neither case will an error message be issued.
 234
 235All writing options will per default write to the repository specific
 236configuration file. Note that this also affects options like '--replace-all'
 237and '--unset'. *'git config' will only ever change one file at a time*.
 238
 239You can override these rules either by command line options or by environment
 240variables. The '--global' and the '--system' options will limit the file used
 241to the global or system-wide file respectively. The GIT_CONFIG environment
 242variable has a similar effect, but you can specify any filename you want.
 243
 244
 245ENVIRONMENT
 246-----------
 247
 248GIT_CONFIG::
 249        Take the configuration from the given file instead of .git/config.
 250        Using the "--global" option forces this to ~/.gitconfig. Using the
 251        "--system" option forces this to $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig.
 252
 253GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM::
 254        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 255        $(prefix)/etc/gitconfig file. See linkgit:git[1] for details.
 256
 257See also <<FILES>>.
 258
 259
 260[[EXAMPLES]]
 261EXAMPLES
 262--------
 263
 264Given a .git/config like this:
 265
 266        #
 267        # This is the config file, and
 268        # a '#' or ';' character indicates
 269        # a comment
 270        #
 271
 272        ; core variables
 273        [core]
 274                ; Don't trust file modes
 275                filemode = false
 276
 277        ; Our diff algorithm
 278        [diff]
 279                external = /usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper
 280                renames = true
 281
 282        ; Proxy settings
 283        [core]
 284                gitproxy=proxy-command for kernel.org
 285                gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest
 286
 287you can set the filemode to true with
 288
 289------------
 290% git config core.filemode true
 291------------
 292
 293The hypothetical proxy command entries actually have a postfix to discern
 294what URL they apply to. Here is how to change the entry for kernel.org
 295to "ssh".
 296
 297------------
 298% git config core.gitproxy '"ssh" for kernel.org' 'for kernel.org$'
 299------------
 300
 301This makes sure that only the key/value pair for kernel.org is replaced.
 302
 303To delete the entry for renames, do
 304
 305------------
 306% git config --unset diff.renames
 307------------
 308
 309If you want to delete an entry for a multivar (like core.gitproxy above),
 310you have to provide a regex matching the value of exactly one line.
 311
 312To query the value for a given key, do
 313
 314------------
 315% git config --get core.filemode
 316------------
 317
 318or
 319
 320------------
 321% git config core.filemode
 322------------
 323
 324or, to query a multivar:
 325
 326------------
 327% git config --get core.gitproxy "for kernel.org$"
 328------------
 329
 330If you want to know all the values for a multivar, do:
 331
 332------------
 333% git config --get-all core.gitproxy
 334------------
 335
 336If you like to live dangerously, you can replace *all* core.gitproxy by a
 337new one with
 338
 339------------
 340% git config --replace-all core.gitproxy ssh
 341------------
 342
 343However, if you really only want to replace the line for the default proxy,
 344i.e. the one without a "for ..." postfix, do something like this:
 345
 346------------
 347% git config core.gitproxy ssh '! for '
 348------------
 349
 350To actually match only values with an exclamation mark, you have to
 351
 352------------
 353% git config section.key value '[!]'
 354------------
 355
 356To add a new proxy, without altering any of the existing ones, use
 357
 358------------
 359% git config --add core.gitproxy '"proxy-command" for example.com'
 360------------
 361
 362An example to use customized color from the configuration in your
 363script:
 364
 365------------
 366#!/bin/sh
 367WS=$(git config --get-color color.diff.whitespace "blue reverse")
 368RESET=$(git config --get-color "" "reset")
 369echo "${WS}your whitespace color or blue reverse${RESET}"
 370------------
 371
 372include::config.txt[]
 373
 374GIT
 375---
 376Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite